NBA: Indiana Pacers beat Miami Heat 87-77

AP, INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana

Thu, Jan 10, 2013 - Page 19

Paul George had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers held Miami to a season-low point total in an 87-77 win over the Heat on Tuesday night.

George made four three-pointers to get the best of his matchup with LeBron James. David West added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Lance Stephenson chipped in with 13 points for the Pacers (21-14), who have won 11 of their past 13 games.

Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and James had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami (23-10), who still have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

It was the first time the teams had met since Miami beat the Pacers in six games in the conference semi-finals last year.

Miami entered the game leading the NBA in field goal percentage, while Indiana led the league in field goal percentage defense.

The matchup resulted in the Heat scoring only 35 points in the second half, their lowest-scoring half of the season.

BUCKS 108, SUNS 99

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brandon Jennings scored 29 points and Milwaukee gave Jim Boylan a win in his first game as coach with a victory over Phoenix.

The Bucks parted ways with coach Scott Skiles on Monday in what was called a mutual decision, and the Bucks tapped Skiles’ top assistant Boylan as a replacement. This is the second time Boylan has succeeded Skiles mid-season. He took over the Bulls when Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve in 2007.

The Suns were a perfect opponent, playing poorly in the past few weeks, with nine losses in the past 10 games overall to go with a nine-game losing streak on the road.

Goran Dragic scored 21 points and Jared Dudley added 18 for Phoenix.

ROCKETS 125, LAKERS 112

In Houston, Texas, James Harden scored 31 points and Chandler Parsons added 20 to help Houston win their fifth straight with a victory over short-handed Los Angeles.

Houston trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but used a pair of runs in the third quarter to go on top and build a big lead.

Metta World Peace had a season-high 24 points for the Lakers, who were playing without their top three big men: Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill — all out with injuries.

Kobe Bryant added 20 for the Lakers and Steve Nash had 16 as they tied a season high with their fourth straight loss.

The Rockets have rallied from double-digit deficits for their last three wins.

NETS 109, 76ERS 89

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Reggie Evans had a career-high 23 rebounds, Deron Williams scored 22 points and Brooklyn improved to 6-1 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo with a win over Philadelphia.

Evans outrebounded the undersized Sixers 23-22 through three quarters.

Andray Blatche scored 20 points for the Nets, hours after he was questioned by Philadelphia police as part of a sexual assault investigation at an upscale hotel. Blatche was not charged.

He wrote about the incident on Twitter, saying: “Im ok and I didn’t do anything just was in the area when it happened,” Blatche tweeted.

Blatche later took down the tweet.

Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Spencer Hawes had 14 for the Sixers.

TIMBERWOLVES 108, HAWKS 103

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nikola Pekovic had 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and Andrei Kirilenko added 21 points to lead Minnesota over Atlanta.

Derrick Williams scored 17 points and Alexey Shved had 15 for the Timberwolves, who were missing coach Rick Adelman due to personal reasons. Terry Porter filled in and led the Wolves to their first victory over Atlanta since 2006, snapping an 11-game skid in the series.